5 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Broadcast Television or Radio Veteran for Your Voiceover Project

Where voiceovers got their start

In radio! In TV!What? You think Shoguns in feudal Japan started the profession?Radio and then TV was the home of voiceover, IS still the foundation of voiceover, and will be for the near-future.

Most of the best voiceover opportunities are still in radio and TV

I suppose it depends on how you define TV. If you include HULU, Vudu, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Vimeo, and about a gazillion cable and internet streams, then TV is still king, and radio is never going away (it’s only morphing into podcasting, and even AM is going HD digital).

Broadcasting is a breeding ground for voice overs

Professionals emerging from the experience of radio or TV get it. They’ve lived and worked it…and “it” is the complicated and nuanced world of broadcasting. In their new life as freelance voice actors, these people come with a whole toolbelt of talent you need. But they bring with them from their previous life, a deep understanding of how the business works.

The Five Undeniable Reasons You Should Hire a Television or Radio Veteran for your Next Voiceover Project.

[ …and it’s by no means the final or definitive list!…just the reasons you can’t ignore!]

1 – Broadcasters know “quick turnaround”

Are you kidding me? Are you familiar with the term “deadline”?? This is the bread and butter of radio and TV. Everything is scheduled, and you had better deliver. Broadcasters know what you mean when you say you want it yesterday.

2 – Broadcast veterans usually need only one take

…and that first take is typically their best one. Hey! Prior to voiceover, there were no second chances for another take on the broadcast. You get one. This is LIVE. So it had better be good. Ex-broadcasters–turned-voiceover actors are efficient.

3 – Broadcasters-turned-voiceover talent have innate timing

They know how to speed-up or slow-down to make your copy fit in 30-seconds…or even 60-seconds; which is the foundation of voiceover. That doesn’t mean you should shovel lousy copy at ’em, but in a pinch, they can almost always deliver any copy in the desired time – with a second to spare!

Sure, they’re freelancers, and love setting their own schedule, but they know what it means when the boss, or the boss’s boss is a pickle. They get the needs of department heads, agents, advertisers, producers, audio engineers, and even interns.

5 – Voice actors who cut their teeth in broadcasting are responsible

They answer emails, take phone calls, respond quickly to questions, handle emergencies, deal with situations, and take control when they have to. They’re facile with technology, and the other side of their brain is trained as talent.

Honorable mention

They know how to address a mic. They’ll fix the spelling, grammar and terrible copywriting when it pops up in script. ‘They understand improv. They’re enterprising, have chutzpah, and enjoy a challenge.

A note about the “announcer” myth.

Consultants began training TV newscasters and DJ’s in “conversational” decades ago. Why that mindset persists among voice hirers is beyond me. Even those talent with a pesky cadence sometimes misunderstood as “announcery” can have it coached out of them. Get over it. Chance are even YOU can’t legitimately define conversational.

In short, ex-broadcasters are imminently prepared to partner with you on your next voiceover project. Heck, you should make that a question on the initial interview…and if they’re not, or they claim some high-falutin’ theatre background, you might want to reconsider. 😉

He also founded and is the President of World-Voices Organization, a non-profit industry trade association for voice-over people that advocates, promotes, educates, and sets ethical standards for its global members.

Dave is considered a thought-influencer in the voiceover community and is known for paying it forward to his colleagues.